Anyone installing CB/ Ham radio and/or NMO antenna mount on your new Ranger?

[Dredgerie]

These...
https://fordrangerlifts.com/shop?olsPage=products/a-pillar-ditch-light-brackets-2019-ford-ranger

Dual lamp plate...
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01AT5IZAC/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

What model of Rigid lights are you running? Those heat fins look huge!

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[Msfitoy]

What model of Rigid lights are you running? Those heat fins look huge!

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B074TWVKQN/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Can't beat these for performance vs price

 

[HenryMac]

Back in the 70's we used to either put a large whip antenna on the rear bumper, or mount it on the antenna on the bed rail. This allowed the whip to be pulled down and secured so the vehicle could be pulled into a garage.

______________________________________________________________
Off topic... but here's where I mounted the antenna on my '65 C10... Where the OEM gas filler cap was located.

______________________________________________________________
And on my high school '77 Nova.. trunk mount.

 

[forceofnature]

Not sure I will do this yet but my call sign is N3XMV. I think my license may have expired so I need to get it renewed.

 

[Al Gordon]

Not sure I will do this yet but my call sign is N3XMV. I think my license may have expired so I need to get it renewed.

If that’s your call sign, then your amateur radio license is good until 2027. No excuses, get a radio in your Ranger.

 

[forceofnature]

If that’s your call sign, then your amateur radio license is good until 2027. No excuses, get a radio in your Ranger.

Yep that’s my call sign. Haven’t done much with HAM for a while now.

 

[Pleatherface]

That antenna mount looks like a great option! I wonder if it fits the Ranger. Pricey, but better than drilling a hole in the roof I suppose. My antenna knowledge is a bit rusty, but I think I'd have to upgrade from a 1/4 wavelength vertical to a 1/2 wavelength vertical with this mount since there is no ground plane like you'd have on the roof.

How are you going to power your CB? Do you tap a wire under the dash, get power from the fuse box, or will you do a home run to the battery?

That brake light mount does fit our rangers...had some rains since install, seals just fine.

 

[Chili Rick]

Well of course I find this thread the day after I finished. Disclaimer: I had specific goals in my install that might not apply to everyone (not to mention I am cheap at times), your mileage may vary. If this is helpful then we both turned a profit. One other note...I prefer my antenna to be on the passenger side to maximize the distance between me and it as I also run a pacemaker and I'd like it to stay happy. Pacemakers have come a long ways since the days of not being in a room with a microwave, but for good measure I checked the RF specs and chose one with spec's I could live with (pun intended). Sometimes it's good to have friends in engineering at Medtronix......

I run a Kenwood V71 and put the radio below the passenger seat. Several friends made a project of pulling the power for me as my mobility is currently pretty limited with a brand new knee to go with a brand new truck. They found a grommet on the passenger side behind the glove box and we pulled through 12 gauge zip line. I picked it up at a local car stereo store, and it was super flexible unlike 12 ga cable from someplace like Powerwerks. Under the hood I put in two 40 amp manual reset circuit breakers to protect that cable. I hate worrying about finding the fuse I need when I needed it yesterday....

To get it to the underside of the passenger seat I was able to tuck it under the right skirt of the center console. I have had for a number of years used a powered Motorola speaker that I bought at a junk...I mean hamfest and I velco that to the back window on the passenger side snaking the cable down the right side floor and under the floor mat..

For the antenna, I prefer a 5/8 wave and have an NMO mount that can mount on a door or trunk lid. I don't intend that mound to be permanent, but do public service work, and have an event in a week, so I hung that mount on the rear of the passenger rear door, and snaked the coax along the inside top of the door and then down the post between the doors to the radio. This will change in the near future, but for those wanting a no drill option, I have run this kind of mount for about 10 years and have had good success. I get good simplex range, and in the Phx area, repeaters are plentiful and I have no issues hitting repeaters that 20-60 miles away (note, we have a plethora of 7000 ft granite towers to mount repeaters on).

I wanted the control head somewhere with a good sight line when driving, so I pulled the tray out of the center of the dash (on the top center) and drilled a hole on the rear right side of the tray, and relieved the molded plastic behind the tray so that a piece of cat6 could rum through. The mount for the head is temporary and made out of foam-board and hot glue until I have time to carve out a wooden mount that fits nicer. The mount and head are velcro'd in place. I snaked the cat 6 with the power line to the radio along the console skirt. I intentionally bought cat 6 with molded connectors (lazy, I hate crimping those fine a$$ wires, got it long (15ft) as I didn't have a clue how it was going to be run. I coiled up the excess and threw on a split ferroid and connected to main unit of the radio. I extended the radio cable and then ran it into the center console for storage when I am not operating and intended to pull it out when I am.

Radio sounds good, and doesn't seem to get into the truck computer. My radio buddy says there is a faint purring sound in my audio and I hear a purring sound from the powered speaker especially in the morning after the autostart restarts at a light. Most of the time I don't hear that as I keep the tunes up fairly loud (getting old is hard on the hearing, joints and assorted bodily systems...)

I haven't taken any photos, but will when I get a chance, maybe this weekend if it pans out.

Future plans, I am installing a retractable tonneau cover that has "T-Slots" on the rails. I am going to put on a cargo bar and hang the antenna there using an end fed vertical dipole so that I won't need a counterpoise. In addition, I am going to put an LED "traffic director" lightbar on the rearward facing side of the cargo bar so that when I am working events, I have warning lights.

 

[HenryMac]

Well of course I find this thread the day after I finished. .....

Welcome... and looking forward to those pictures.

 

[egilbe]

Well of course I find this thread the day after I finished. Disclaimer: I had specific goals in my install that might not apply to everyone (not to mention I am cheap at times), your mileage may vary. If this is helpful then we both turned a profit. One other note...I prefer my antenna to be on the passenger side to maximize the distance between me and it as I also run a pacemaker and I'd like it to stay happy. Pacemakers have come a long ways since the days of not being in a room with a microwave, but for good measure I checked the RF specs and chose one with spec's I could live with (pun intended). Sometimes it's good to have friends in engineering at Medtronix......

I run a Kenwood V71 and put the radio below the passenger seat. Several friends made a project of pulling the power for me as my mobility is currently pretty limited with a brand new knee to go with a brand new truck. They found a grommet on the passenger side behind the glove box and we pulled through 12 gauge zip line. I picked it up at a local car stereo store, and it was super flexible unlike 12 ga cable from someplace like Powerwerks. Under the hood I put in two 40 amp manual reset circuit breakers to protect that cable. I hate worrying about finding the fuse I need when I needed it yesterday....

To get it to the underside of the passenger seat I was able to tuck it under the right skirt of the center console. I have had for a number of years used a powered Motorola speaker that I bought at a junk...I mean hamfest and I velco that to the back window on the passenger side snaking the cable down the right side floor and under the floor mat..

For the antenna, I prefer a 5/8 wave and have an NMO mount that can mount on a door or trunk lid. I don't intend that mound to be permanent, but do public service work, and have an event in a week, so I hung that mount on the rear of the passenger rear door, and snaked the coax along the inside top of the door and then down the post between the doors to the radio. This will change in the near future, but for those wanting a no drill option, I have run this kind of mount for about 10 years and have had good success. I get good simplex range, and in the Phx area, repeaters are plentiful and I have no issues hitting repeaters that 20-60 miles away (note, we have a plethora of 7000 ft granite towers to mount repeaters on).

I wanted the control head somewhere with a good sight line when driving, so I pulled the tray out of the center of the dash (on the top center) and drilled a hole on the rear right side of the tray, and relieved the molded plastic behind the tray so that a piece of cat6 could rum through. The mount for the head is temporary and made out of foam-board and hot glue until I have time to carve out a wooden mount that fits nicer. The mount and head are velcro'd in place. I snaked the cat 6 with the power line to the radio along the console skirt. I intentionally bought cat 6 with molded connectors (lazy, I hate crimping those fine a$$ wires, got it long (15ft) as I didn't have a clue how it was going to be run. I coiled up the excess and threw on a split ferroid and connected to main unit of the radio. I extended the radio cable and then ran it into the center console for storage when I am not operating and intended to pull it out when I am.

Radio sounds good, and doesn't seem to get into the truck computer. My radio buddy says there is a faint purring sound in my audio and I hear a purring sound from the powered speaker especially in the morning after the autostart restarts at a light. Most of the time I don't hear that as I keep the tunes up fairly loud (getting old is hard on the hearing, joints and assorted bodily systems...)

I haven't taken any photos, but will when I get a chance, maybe this weekend if it pans out.

Future plans, I am installing a retractable tonneau cover that has "T-Slots" on the rails. I am going to put on a cargo bar and hang the antenna there using an end fed vertical dipole so that I won't need a counterpoise. In addition, I am going to put an LED "traffic director" lightbar on the rearward facing side of the cargo bar so that when I am working events, I have warning lights.

The company I work for makes high-reliability capacitors for Medtronics for their pace-makers. So many capacitors....

 

[Doubleu]

That brake light mount does fit our rangers...had some rains since install, seals just fine.

Do you know where you got this?

 

[JonB]

I didn't want to drill any holes or mar any paint on my new truck. I also wanted an installation that would get the antenna up some but still allow me to get the truck in the garage. So I built this custom mount which attaches to the left rear of the frame. There are two holes there which I mounted this bracket to. The coax is run under the bed and through a grommet on the left side of the rear of the cab. Had to pull back the lining to get to the grommet. The antenna folds over so I can park in the garage.

Running 50 watts from an Icom ID-5100. SWR is 1.2 to 1.

Jon
KC9OO

 

[Pleatherface]

Do you know where you got this?

https://www.bulletproofdiesel.com/t...2017=177&f-2018=178&show=30&page=1&f-Ford=115


I called and checked for fitment, got it over black friday weekend.

 

[Chili Rick]

The company I work for makes high-reliability capacitors for Medtronics for their pace-makers. So many capacitors....

It's kind of funny, when I found out I was going to need a pacer, I emailed my buddy at Medtronics and asked...:what's this crap that I won't be able to play ham radio if I get a pacer"....he replied about 10 minutes later with the full RF spec sheet for their current production....and about an hour later I got "WHY". He really helped me, at the time I got mine, Medtronics was the only FDA certified manufacturer of MRI capable pacers. I have used that feature a couple times already. I actually called my cardiologist's office and told them the make and model I wanted installed....yep, am a nerd....

 

[WxNerd2015]

I installed the Bullet Proof Diesel Third Brake Light Antenna Mount with the Dual Antenna setup as well! I had a couple of struggles with the install initially, mostly with routing of the cable through the cab, but once I figured that out, the rest was pretty straight forward! Plus, I just love how OEM this mount looks, and the fact that you do not need to drill any holes or anything like that to get two great NMO mounts!

I have a full write-up on the installation and such of the antennas on my build page here if you are interested in further details.

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